June 2014 Entry: The Land of Evening's Shadow

[Tomalak]

These are the two ideas I'd had, although the image itself has adjusted some since posting this.

As noted previously, details like specific item or font are flexible, I am simply trying to decide which style better suits the map in general.

[Tomalak]

What confuses me is why they seem dark. They are green, that is why they are dark. How can I make them seem less 'forbidding?' Some of the people rely on those places, and I want to differentiate the dangerous areas from the safe. Playing with lighting didn't help, washed-out forests & hills look terrible.

[Tomalak]

Here I have reverted the grass to an earlier state, in hopes of reducing the contrast with the rest of the map - I don't want to give the impressions of haunted fantastic forests, I want to give the impression of cultures defined by terrain. Low-fantasy, as it were.

I would really appreciate some feedback on icon styles, I'm not really sold on either method I've conceived, I just really don't like plain symbols for this map.
### LATEST WIP ###

[lostatsea]

I had (am still having) problems with my icons. Hmm post what you have tried so someone can can point the right direction. I agree plain icons don't seem right on a map of this type.